348 On Dairy-Farming. 



reach of large towns, where, fro in the daily demand for fresh 

 butter, \bd. to l(Sd. per lb. may be obtained, and each extra penny 

 in the price of the pound of butter adds 16.s'. Sd. to our estimate 

 of the annual return. 



Of Slimmer stall-feeding I will only remark that where the 

 farm consists jirincipally of arable land, or meadows irrigated 

 by sewage, it will probably be the most profitable way of keeping 

 dairy cows ; but the milk should either be sold or made into 

 butter. Where there is a great demand for milk the arable land 

 under special treatment may be made to produce an immense 

 amount of succulent green food, but the soiling system will not, 

 I believe, be generally adopted. 



Fatting Stock. 



On some farms a quantity of dairy cows are kept for the 

 purpose of feeding calves for the butcher ; under good manage- 

 ment a return of from 5c?. to 6<^. per gallon may be obtained by 

 this way of disposing of the milk, without incurring the chief 

 expense of a dairy. 



Again, in some districts, many farms are devoted to the 

 rearing of young stock, which are allowed to suck their dains for 

 some months. Though by this method the first-class Ilcrefords, 

 Devons, and Short-horns are reared, the actual profit is lar below 

 that which might be derived from dairying where the farm is 

 well adapted for it. It is, however, difficult to introduce a new 

 system into any neighbourhood, where its management is not 

 thoroughly understood, and it is difficult to obtain servants with 

 a knowledge of either milking or cheese-making. 



Grazing. 



We have yet to notice the rich first-class feeding pastures. 



Arthur Young, writing more than fifty years ago, estimated 

 that the best grazing land would feed a large ox and a Lincoln- 

 shire sheep per acre ; there is, I believe, but little of such land 

 now to be found. Whilst the produce obtained from arable land 

 has, since the last century, been nearly doubled, the grass-land 

 has from neglect too often absolutely deteriorated. 



To fatten a large beast and a sheep, one acre and a quarter 

 would now be generally required, and such land as this is readily 

 let for 3Z. per acre. A large Short-horn or Hereford will here 

 fatten without the aid of artificial food, and will pay hi. for the 

 four months' keep from April to August. A second lot of 

 feeders will then be procured, and, with the aid of some extra 

 food, be made moderately fat at the latter end of the year. 

 Including the profit derived from feeding sheep, a gross return 

 of 6^. to 11. per acre may thus be realised. 



